From Texas to Tennessee, It's a Holly Dolly Christmas

I went looking for ideas for a Dolly Parton Christmas parade here in Texas. I was already debating a white sequin jumpsuit, red wings and how many lights we could put on a vehicle. Then I started seeing parade announcements from Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. Turns out a whole lot of us are standing in front of a pile of rhinestones right now asking the same question. Is this enough sparkle?

Here on the Texas Gulf Coast, the Port Lavaca Chamber of Commerce announced "A Holly Dolly Christmas" as the theme for its Festival of Lights parade on Friday, Dec. 4. The next day, Frankfort, Kentucky, is asking folks to wear pink and turn its downtown into a Dolly tribute. Over in Harlan County, Kentucky, they're calling theirs "Happy Dolly Days!" And in Dolly's home state of Tennessee, Johnson City, Springfield and Mount Juliet are all putting their own spin on a Holly Dolly Christmas parade.

One of my favorite details comes from Russellville, Alabama. The Franklin County Chamber is using its parade to raise money for Dolly's Imagination Library. Their fundraising goal? $925. If you've ever sung "9 to 5" on your way to work, you'll get it.

Dolly gave us A Holly Dolly Christmas in 2020. Now, in the first Christmas season since her passing, those words are showing up on parade announcements in towns hundreds of miles apart. One town is turning Main Street pink. Another is helping put books in children's hands. Both feel like Dolly to me.

Now I want to see what y'all come up with. The homemade floats, the big hair, the coats of many colors and the pickup trucks with so many lights you can see them coming three blocks away. If your town is having a Dolly Christmas parade, send Press Country a photo you took and tell us where it was taken and who to credit. We'd love to see how your town does Dolly Christmas.

And if you're still wondering whether you need another strand of lights, I think you know what I'm going to say.